Today in History: Aug. 16, 2014

Today is Saturday, August 16, the 228th day of 2014. There are 137 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On August 16, 1954, Sports Illustrated was first published by Time Inc.

On this date:

In 1777, American forces won the Revolutionary War Battle of Bennington.

In 1812, Detroit fell to British and Indian forces in the War of 1812.

In 1858, a telegraphed message from Britain’s Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan was transmitted over the recently laid trans-Atlantic cable.

In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states in rebellion, namely, the Confederacy.

In 1937, the American Federation of Radio Artists was chartered.

In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53.

In 1956, Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

In 1960, Britain ceded control of the crown colony of Cyprus.

In 1962, The Beatles fired their original drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr.

In 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 42.

In 1987, 156 people were killed when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed while trying to take off from Detroit; the sole survivor was 4-year-old Cecelia Cichan. People worldwide began a two-day celebration of the “harmonic convergence,” which heralded what believers called the start of a new, purer age of humankind.

In 1999, the U.S. version of the quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” hosted by Regis Philbin, began a limited two-week run on ABC.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush announced a plan to bring home two Army divisions from Cold War-era bases in Germany. Election officials in Venezuela announced that voters had overwhelmingly chosen to keep President Hugo Chavez in office.

Five years ago: Negotiators averted a strike against the San Francisco Bay Area’s commuter rail hours before a midnight deadline. Y.E. Yang of South Korea became the first Asian-born player to win one of golf’s majors with a three-stroke win over Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship in Chaska, Minnesota. Usain Bolt ran to another world record, winning the 100-meter race in 9.58 seconds at the world championships in Berlin.

One year ago: In a spacewalk lasting seven hours and 29 minutes, Russian cosmonauts rigged cable outside the International Space Station for a new lab that was due to arrive in a few months.